Carvin strings saved my Lakland collection!

I always liked Carvin strings for their sound and used them on my two Carvin Bolt 5 basses for a while. The only drawback I found was their short lifespan. Hopefully, they have this worked out now.

 

Pickes: great to hear that! Would you put these in the "warm and fat" category, or are they are brighter nickel like the Sadowsky blues? If they die quick, better for me.

 

Ever since I purchased my Carvin, I've used their strings. They sound perfect with that bass. I've tried other nickel strings like Boomers or D'Addarios... but I always go back to the Carvins. VERY inexpensive and perfect balance in sound.

I've yet to try them on my new Schecter, but I'll slap them on there as soon as these DR Sunbeams wear out. Not too much of a steel fan anyway.

 

Sounds great! The 4-string nickels are only $12, so I will at least have to try a set on my SX. Might as well get a few sets because of the flat rate of $9.50.

I have heard they are re-packaged La Bella Slappers, but you said these were better so that must not be true. Are they taperwound?

 

Being local to Carvin is a plus, and I have been using their La Bellas for quite some time now. I agree, they don't retain the really bright zing but I really like the overall tone and feel, and after losing their inherent brightness they maintain a very consistent good tone that is never lacking for snap or growl. Great value for $17 or whatever a 5 string set goes for. The options at Guitar Center are of no interest to me anymore.

 

Exactly! I love the way they sound brand new. But after they lose that initial zing... they settle into their own tone. Which is still fantastic.

I feel I don't have to change my strings for what seems forever because they DO retain that great tone for a very very long time.

 

I was going to say the same thing.....I'm actually amazed (ashamed?) how long I go before I feel compelled to buy a new set. It's a ridiculously long time like 5-6 months. Or more. They just don't EVER go bad.

 

I used 'em for ages on 34" scale. Absolutely no problems. The OEM Carvin/Labellas have in the past been my favorite roundwounds*, partly because I love their B strings, partly for the reasons others have mentioned.



* until I got into custom gauges/sets built from singles, and more recently, Circle K strings which were in the ballpark of my gauges

 

No issues for me on 34" scale Fender 5's. Never had a string break on me.

 

Awesome! After playing hi-beams, which are now 4-months-old on my SX, I know what you mean about the life. They loose the zing and sizzle but still sound great. I'm definitely going to order these for my SX; I think I will like them a little more than hi-beams. "Round" sound good to me, usually means a solid low mid presence.

 

Pickles, thanks for the heads up on the Carvin strings. I use Lakland nickel rounds on my ash/maple 55-94D but will give these a try. Nickel has more warmth than steel when played with that birdseye maple board and works well for me but the taperwound B-string is a must, otherwise that string is too big and boomy and unbalanced with the rest.

 

I was popping the B strings on a 34" like pop corn.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=545262&highlight=carvin

I added a spacer at the bridge and things are good now. I think the 34" Carvin basses have the tuner pretty far forward on the 3+2 headstock relative to the 4+1 on my Sadowsky. BTW I have noticed that the B is slightly louder than the other strings. Never had this issue on this bass. I wonder if the spacer is adding to the phenomena.

After all the head aches and a few calls and replacements from Carvin, I love the B string in this set. Best nickel B I have played. It is very focused up to the 10th fret. This is the first set of strings where I grab the 6th fret F at times because I prefer its tone to the 1st fret F.

When I first put them on, I was not crazy about the tone. A little to sizzly. But they have warmed up very nicely. And seem to be going strong after a couple months of on / off playing at church. I am playing gospel with a drums, piano, organ, and acoustic. I need something that is warm but still defined. These strings after the initial break in are fantastic for this application.

I was thinking about going for some Slappers to address the length issue. But from what your saying Dave, the Slappers have that thuddy E string that I have experienced with the HRS. And the Pedullas which still taper the E are pretty pricey. Maybe I will just keep using the spacer and be happy.

 

Did you like the tone better than the Sadowsky blue nickels?

 

I should drop them an email.

I tried to things slowly. The strings would never make it past maybe 20lbs of tension and the wrap and core just seperated. Maybe I hit a batch of bad ones but this happened with 3 or 4 strings before I went with the spacer.

I think I liked the Blues on the E thru G but the B string just went thuddy pretty quick. The Carvins sound a bit sizzly for the band I am in at first. But they have warmed nicely. In fact they sound a lot better after 20 hours of playing than they did when they were new. At this point I would recommend the Carvins to a 5 string player over the Blue Nickels because you can actually use your B string with the Carvins and not worry about thud and mud.